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NORTH CENTRAL MINDANAO COLLEGE
Maranding, Lala, Lanao del Norte

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

Department of Computer Science
CS 404: Thesis 1
1st Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021

Topic

The Research Problem

EEE 132 COURSE MODULE

Rationale

This module will provide the students with the knowledge and principles on the research
problem.

Intended Learning Outcomes

ILO1. Examine how a problem known to be a research problem.

ILO2. Discuss the elements of a research problem.
ILO3. Recognize how a research problem be selected.
ILO4. Frame research title, objectives, assumptions, and hypothesis.

Activity/Activities

Virtual discussion, online quiz

Discussion

Definition of Problem
(1) Any significant, perplexing and challenging situation, real or artificial, the solution of which requires
reflective thinking;
(2) a perplexing situation after it has been translated into a question or series of questions that help
determine the direction of subsequent inquiry. The foregoing definitions are according to Dewey.
(Good, p. 414)

Elements of Research Problem

1. Aim or purpose of the problem for investigation. This answers the question “Why?” Why is there
an investigation, inquiry or study?
2. The subject matter or topic to be investigated. This answers the question “What?” What is to
be investigated or studied?
3. The place of locale where the research is be conducted. This answers the question “Where?”
Where is the study to be conducted?
4. The period or time of the study during which the data are to be gathered. This answers the
question “When?” When is the study to be carried out?

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5. Population or universe from whom the data are to be collected. This answers the question
“Who?” or “From whom?” Who are the correspondents? From whom are the data to be
gathered?

Example of a research problem:

To determine the status of teaching science in the high schools of Province A during the school
year 1989-1990.

Aim or purpose: To determine the status of

Subject matter or topic: The teaching of science
Place or locale: In the high schools of Province A
Period of time: During the school year 1989-1990
Period or time: During the school year 1989-1990
Population: The respondents are implied to be either the teachers or the pupils or both.

In formulating the title of a research inquiry, the aim is usually omitted and sometimes the population
is not also included. In the above example the title is “The Teaching of Science in the High Schools of
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Province A”

Guideline in the Selection of a Research Problem or Topic

1. The research problem or topic must be chosen by the researcher himself.

2. It must be within the interest of the researcher.
3. It must be within the specialization of the researcher.
4. It must be within the competence of the researcher to tackle.
5. It must be within the ability of the researcher to finance, otherwise he must be able to find
funding for his research.
6. It is researchable and manageable, that is,
a. Data are available and accessible.
b. The data must meet the standards of accuracy, objectivity, and verifiability. This is
important.
c. Answers to the specific questions (subproblems) can be found.
d. The hypotheses formulated are testable, that is, they can be accepted or rejected.
e. Equipment and instruments for research are available and can give valid reliable
results.
7. It can be completed within a reasonable period of time unless it is a longitudinal research
which takes a long time for its completion. Although research is unhurried, there must be a
timetable for its completion.
8. It is significant, important, and relevant to the present time and situation, timely, and of current
interest.
9. The results are practical and implementable.
10. It requires original, critical, and reflective thinking to solve it.
11. It can be delimited to suit the resources of the researcher but big or large enough to be able
to give significant, valid, and reliable results and generalizations.
12. It must contribute to the national development goals for the improvement of the quality of
human life.
13. It must contribute to the fund of human knowledge.
14. It must show or pave the way for the solution of the problem or problems intended to be solved.
15. It must not undermine the moral and spiritual values of the people.
16. It must not advocate any change in the present order of things by means of violence but by
peaceful means.
17. There must be a consideration of the hazards involved, either physical, social, or legal.

The Title
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1. Generally, the title is formulated before the start of the research work. It may be revised and
refined later if there is a need.
2. The title must contain the subject matter of the study, the locale of the study, the population
involved, and the period when the data were gathered or will be gathered.
3. It must be broad enough to include all aspects of the subject matter studied or to be studied.
Hence, the title indicates what is expected to be found inside the thesis report.
4. It must be as brief and concise as possible.
5. Avoid using the terms “An Analysis of,” “A Study of,” “An Investigation of,” and the like.
6. If the title contains more than on line, it must be written like an inverted pyramid, all words in
capital letters.

Example of a complete title:

“THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF PROVINCE A AS PERCEIVED BY THE SCIENCE
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR 1989-1990”

The contents as required by Guideline No. 2 are:

EEE 132 COURSE MODULE

1. Subject matter: The teaching of science;

2. Locale of the study: High schools of Province A
3. Population involved: The science teachers and students; and
4. Period of the study: School year 1989-1990

A brief and concise form the title and a better one follows:

“THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN THE HIGH SCHOOL OF PROVINCE A”

Statement of the Problem

Is used as a work claim that outlines the problem addressed by a study.

Guidelines in formulating the general problem and the specific sub problems or specific questions.

1. The general statement of the problem and the specific sub problems or questions should be
formulated first before conducting the research.
2. It is customary to state specific sub problems in the interrogative form. Hence, sub problems
are called specific questions.
3. Each specific question must be clear and unequivocal, that is, it has only one meaning. It must
not have dual meanings.
4. Each specific question is researchable apart from the other questions, that is, answers to each
specific question can be found even without considering the other questions.
5. Each specific question must be based upon known facts and phenomena. Besides, data from
such known facts and phenomena must be accessible to make the specific question
researchable.
6. Answers to each specific question can be interpreted apart from the answers to other specific
questions.
7. Answers to each specific question must contribute to the development of the whole research
problem or topic.
8. Summing up the answers to all the specific questions will give a complete development of the
entire study.
9. The number of specific questions should be enough to cover the development of the whole
research problem or study.

Before writing down the specific questions, determine first the different aspects of the
research problem to be studied and then for each aspect make one specific question with

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sub questions if there is a need. If the research topic is the teaching of science the different
aspects may be the following:
a. Qualifications of the teachers, especially educational;
b. Methods and strategies of teaching used and their level of effectiveness;
c. Facilities available, instructional and non-instructional and their adequacy;
d. Adequacy of supervisory assistance extended to teachers;
e. Comparison between the perceptions of the teachers and those of the students
concerning the different aspects;
f. Problems encountered by the teachers in teaching science;
g. Proposals to solve or help solve the problems; and
h. Implications of the study to the teaching of science.

10. Generally, there should be a general statement of the problem and then this should be broken
up into as many sub problems or specific questions as necessary.

Example:
This study was conducted to investigate all aspects of the teaching of science in the high
EEE 132 COURSE MODULE

schools of Province A during the school year 1989 – 1990 as perceived by the science teachers
and students. Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following questions:

a. How qualified are the teachers handling science in the high schools of Province A?
b. How effective are the methods and strategies used by the teachers in teaching
science?
c. How adequate are the instructional as well as the non-instructional facilities for the
teaching of science?
d. How adequate are the forms of supervisory assistance extended to the teachers
relative to the teaching of science?
e. Is there any significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers and those
of the students concerning the different aspects in the teaching of science?
f. What problems are being encountered by the teachers of science?
g. What suggestions are offered by the teachers and students to improve the teaching of
science?
h. What are the implications of the findings to the teaching of science?

Assumptions

An assumption is a self-evident truth which is based upon a known fact or phenomenon.

Examples:

(1) Specific question: How qualified are the teachers handling science?

Implicit (unwritten) assumption: There are certain qualifications that one should possess
before he can teach science.

(2) Specific question: How adequate are the facilities that a school should acquire before it
can offer science as a subject?

Implicit assumption: There are certain required facilities that a school should acquire before
it can offer science as a subject.

(3) Specific question: How effective are the methods used in the teaching of science?

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Implicit assumption: There are certain methods that are effective in the teaching of
science.

Guidelines in the use of basic assumptions. The following are the guidelines in the use of basic
assumptions: (By Sugden as cited by Manuel, p. 81)

1. You cannot assume the value of your study.

2. You cannot assume the reliability of the instruments you propose to use in your research.
3. You cannot assume the validity of basic data.
4. You cannot assume that your population is typical.
5. An assumption not tested, neither is it defended nor argued.

Hypotheses

A hypothesis is a tentative conclusion or answer to a specific question raised at the beginning

of the investigation. It is an educated guess about the answer to a specific question.
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Forms of hypotheses. There are two form of hypotheses. One is in the operational form and the
other is in the null form. The operational form is stated in the affirmative while the null form is stated in
the negative. The operational form states that there is a difference between two phenomena while
the null form states that there is no difference between the two phenomena. This is more commonly
used.

The following are the guidelines in the formulation of explicit hypotheses:

1. In experimental investigations, hypotheses have to be explicit, they to be expressed. They have

to be expressed also in comparative and correlational studies.
2. In descriptive and historical investigations, hypotheses are seldom expressed if not entirely
absent. The sub problems or specific questions raised before the start of the investigation and
stated under the statement of the problem serve as the hypotheses. (Good and Scates, pp.
220-221) The specific questions serve as the hypotheses. With this fact, it is logical to presume
that all studies in research have hypotheses and for that matter all theses and dissertations
have their own respective hypotheses. Consequently, no research is conducted without any
hypothesis at all.
3. Hypotheses are usually stated in the null form because testing a null hypothesis is easier than a
hypothesis in the operational form. Testing a hypothesis simply means gathering data to answer
it.
4. Hypotheses are formulated from the specific questions upon which they are based.

Examples:

(1) Question: Is there any significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers and
those of the students concerning the different aspects in the teaching of science?

Operational hypothesis: There is a significant difference between the perceptions of the

teachers and those of the students concerning the different aspects in the teaching of
science.

Null hypothesis: There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the teachers and
those of the students concerning the different aspects in the teaching of science.

(2) Question: Is there any significant difference between the effectiveness of the inductive
method and that of the deductive method in the teaching of science?

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Operational hypothesis. There is a significant difference between the effectiveness of the
inductive method and that of the deductive method in the teaching of science.

Null hypothesis: There is no significant difference between the effectiveness of the inductive
method and that of the deductive method in the teaching of science.

Purposes, functions, and importance of hypotheses or specific questions. Hypotheses (specific

questions) perform important functions in research such as the following:

1. They help the researcher in designing his study: what methods, research instruments, sampling
design, and statistical treatments to use, what data to gather, etc.
2. They serve as bases for determining assumptions.
3. They serve as bases for determining the relevance of data.
4. They serve as bases for the explanation or discussion about the data gathered.
5. They help or guide the researcher in consolidating his findings and in formulating his
conclusions. Generally, findings and conclusions are answers to the hypotheses or specific
questions raised at the start of the investigation.
EEE 132 COURSE MODULE

Assessment
Given a statement below, examine if it can be a research problem using the elements of
research Problem.

1. Identify the effects does social media have on people’s minds.

2. Improving speaking skills through YouTube aided instructions.

Given a questions below, formulate the hypothesis.

1. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test and the post test of grade 6
pupils?
2. Is there a significant relationship between the status of YouTube-aided instructions as
perceived by the students and the level of specking skills?

Given a questions below, formulate an assumptions.

1. How effective is the learning management system to the delivery of online learning?
2. How difficult are the problem being encountered by the students in online learning?

Resources

• Calderon, J.F., & Gonzales, E.C. (2014). Methods of Research and Thesis
Writing. National Book Store, Inc.
• Calmorin, L.P., & Calmorin, M.A. (2007). Research Methods and Thesis
Writing. Rex Book Store Inc.
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325846733_INTRODUCTION_T
O_RESEARCH

Prepared By

Rubyrosa B. Luna, MST, LPT

CECS Faculty
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EEE 132 COURSE MODULE

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